The recent global economic collapse combined with the cravenness of the banking industry and the general cheez-brained of the American public have made it all but inevitable that eventually the general public would simply start hoarding their few remaining valuables in iron boxes built into their bedframes and/ or outhouses. Some in the safe industry are "reporting sales increases of as much as 40 percent from a few years ago." But what are you people keeping in there?

North Carolina contractor Pat Brabble spent $9,500 on two plain but very large safes, including one "you could fit five people in," he says. The safes hold gold, silver and cash totaling about $7,000 in value, Brabble says. He's also holding on to about 50 bottles of Jack Daniels. "I don't drink," he says, but "if things do fall apart, I've got something I can trade with."